I recall reading “Advanced Racing Tactics” by Stuart Walker. The book has gone through a few versions now, but one thing hasn’t changed – his recipe for success in a regatta. The recipe is to have a boat capable of boatspeed equal to the top ten percent of the fleet, a solid knowledge of the racing rules and an advanced understanding of the underlying strategic principles of racing.
One thing which has been clear whenever I have gone to regattas, is that in practice, you can line up against most of the boats in the fleet, and the difference in boat speed over a long haul may be negligible. Yet when it comes to the race results, the same people filter to the top.
What do they do differently? Many of the various designs are capable of generating similar boatspeed, but where the skipper puts them makes the difference. If it was just the design which made the difference, then why do we see the so called “top” designs at the bottom of results lists?
How many skippers record their settings and tune so that we are able to re-produce any given tune at will? How many are able to swap rigs and have the new rig tuned straight away without spending a couple of races getting it right? In order to regularly generate boatspeed equal to the top 10% of the fleet, you need to be able to do that.
Do we take time to understand the wind, wave and tide patterns at a venue and plan a race strategy? How good are we at reading the conditions, sailing with our eyes out of the boat looking around at the wind gusts coming up the course? And do we have the capacity to stick to our strategy, or does that go out the window as soon as something go wrong – or conversely to make a new strategy if conditions change on the run?
How many of us practice things like being able to change rigs inside two minutes out in the wind (not in the comfort of the loungeroom!), being able to change out a servo or winch in as short time as possible, being able to troubleshoot and rectify problems without missing races?
Do we spend hours practicing sitting our boats just behind the start line for almost a minute and then being able to get the boat to top speed right on the start time? If you can’t decide where to start, establish your position early and hold it, the strategic plan isn’t going to be all that effective.
How often have we practiced simple things like boat handling, mark rounding, tacking and gybing? If you can gain half a boat length over your competitors each time you tack or round a mark, that equates to quite a distance around a race track.
Do we spend time travelling to as many different venues to learn how to deal with different conditions and to sail in different fleets? How many hours are spent ensuring that we don’t run into equipment problems?
The elements which contribute to success in a regatta are so much more complex than which design is being sailed.